Various variety and virus too.

Wow, it's been a while....time flies when you are putting out one fire after another.

I'm still driving the rental van. My car has been ready at the shop for two weeks now, but I have the lamest claims agent on the planet. Of course she's probably related to her boss, because calling him hasn't done a damn thing to speed up the process. It's a simple claim, the police report clearly states that the other (insured) driver was at fault. The body shop got approvals prior to all the work...yet no check. I call a few times a week, and let her know that I'm fine with driving "not my" car for the rest of my life, but that it's getting pretty damned expensive. (We're at day 40 since the accident). I long for competency, but I haven't seen any yet.

The boys are doing well in school. Joey is going thru a phase that I can't quite name. He's seeking some sort of independence, yet he is such a perfectionist that he's punishing himself for not being independent enough or not doing it "correctly" or something. Lots of talks and trying to understand him. The closest thing I can compare it to is hormones. Wacky, overwhelming emotions, periods of poor judgement followed by brilliance. He's only 9 and a half....I'm just trying to keep the communication going and give him some breathing space, and a soft place to land when he falls.

Matthew is doing extra credit for his Science unit. He made a model of a boa constrictor capturing some Amazonian rodent and put it in a diorama. Looks pretty cool...too bad the camera still isn't working or I'd show it to you. He has to give an oral presentation tomorrow, and I am allowed to come and watch. Pretty exciting.

DH is still seeking a new job. The old one is still here, but barely. I'm using fishing analogies for encouragement....casting his net far and wide, continuing to fish even when no one's biting, etc. We think that our friend R will come thru. He's had a major sales managership fall into his lap, and it looks like he will hire David. Pretty exciting, but it isn't "for sure" just yet.

Hope has been ill. She picked up a virus last week that has left her weak as a kitten, and 5 lbs lighter (so far). I've been very worried about her. She's awake for about 3 whiny, fussy hours, then back to sleep for another 9 or so. I've had her at the doctors office twice, and the ER once. Her fever's gone thru the roof and back again, and she's currently on 5 different meds. I want her to be better, now! Tomorrow is Pajama Day at preschool, and I'd love it if she woke up in the morning a happy girl with an appetite, I have a feeling it's just not gonna happen.

She's asking for someone to hold her hand now, I gotta run.

Division makes me sleepy too!

I began a normal "back to school" day. I got the kids up, fed and dressed, then dropped the boys off at school. Hope and I went to do some grocery shopping. I've had a craving for curry, but cannot find my favorite brand of curry powder :

http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2162

As you can see, it's terribly expensive (snort!), but I've been using it since my poverty stricken 20's, and it's comfort food at this point. Sure, I can find authentic Thai, or hand blended java, or whatever else costs around $20/ounce, but I'm not looking for quality, I'm looking for familiar. I need to find a local Asian grocer, because I know they will carry it.

Anyways, about 20 minutes into my shopping foray, my cell phone rang. Seems Joey was "too tired" to stay awake at school. He told his teacher that he "hadn't slept since last year".

We went to some friends for New Years Eve. This is the first year that the kids have even wanted to make it until midnight. We've never taken them anywhere on NYE, last year we were all sick, and DH usually works at some point during the holiday. He stayed home for me this year. I absolutely hate when he works that night, as I am terrified of all the drunken drivers out there. I was more than relieved that he agreed to skip it this year.

We had a late dinner, and the kids had a ball. About 15 minutes before the ball dropped, Joey ran out of steam. He was suddenly exhausted, and I held him in my lap to ring in the New Year. We went home shortly after that, and poured all the kids into bed. Hope and Matthew slept in until 7am, but Joey stayed in bed until 9:30. We took it easy on Monday, watched some great football, and got prepped for school. I sent the boys to bed at 8pm Monday night.

This morning, Joey woke up by himself, and was his usual noisy self all morning, until he got to school. I was pissed, because he didn't seem so very tired when I dropped him off, and I spent a great deal of time in December coming back to school to pick up kids that couldn't stay there for one reason or another. How I wanted to say "send him back to class"...but I couldn't.

I cut short my shopping and went to the school. Joey was laying on the cot in the nurses office, acting pitiful. I told him that I would take him home to nap, but that he was coming back to school after he had enough sleep. He came tearfully along home. I sent him right to his room and told him to sleep as long as he would like.

Not even 20 minutes later, he was up and ready to go back. I told him that I would not come and get him later, so he better be sure. I didn't see him again until 3pm.

I talked to his teacher at four and she and I giggled over the whole thing. Apparently it all started with a math quiz - division, of course. He told her he was just too exhausted to take the test. She told him to take it, or go home. He opted for home, and found out that he'd rather actually take the test than lie in bed all day. A good lesson to learn, I think.